BATON ROUGE — LSU closed out its regular season with a 4-3 win over Arkansas on Saturday, their fifth win in a row.
The No. 15 Tigers (18-7, 5-6 SEC) matched their win total from last season with the win over the Razorbacks (4-16, 2-9 SEC).
“In a season with as strong a schedule as we have, if put a win streak together it’s good,” Brown said. “It’s even better if it’s at the end of the year.”
LSU’s two seniors, Peter Richman and Jason Hazley, were recognized after the doubles point. It was the last regular season home match for the seniors, who have had tremendous success in their careers here.
Richman, of Toronto, and Hazley, of Bradenton, Fla., have a total of three All-SEC and five all-Louisiana awards between them.
Ken Skujpki and Mark Growcott won their match, 8-4, on court one over Rohan Gajjar and Adrians Zguns. Hazley and Richman clinched the point, winning 8-2 on court three.
Danny Bryan and Colt Gaston cam back from a 7-5 deficit to beat Matt Roberts and Imraan Ismail, 9-7.
It was LSU’s tenth consecutive doubles point win.
Gaston beat Imraan Ismail on court six, 6-2, 6-1. Gaston has not lost a singles or doubles match in over a month.
Richman extended the lead to 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-1 win. Richman has won five singles matches in a row.
Arkansas got back on the board quickly with wins on the first two courts. Gajjar beat Skupski on court one and Zguns beat Growcott on two.
Bryan clinched the match for LSU with a 6-4, 6-2 win on court five.
Hazley was down in his match on court three and retired in the second set when Bryan clinched.
“It was a little bit of a flat performance, but we still had enough in us to get through,” Brown said. “We’re going to need everyone to get their minds right for the end of year and we need every guy to be in the match. There were too many straight set losses, but Arkansas’ top three guys played phenomenal tennis.”
LSU’s next step is to the SEC Tournament in Athens, Ga. Seedings and brackets for the tournament will be announced this weekend.
#15 LSU 4, #75 Arkansas 3
Singles competition:
1. #75 Rohan Gajjar (ARK) def. #20 Ken Skupski (LSU) 6-2, 6-1
2. Adrians Zguns (ARK) def. #61 Mark Growcott (LSU) 6-2, 6-4
3. Matt Roberts (ARK) def. Jason Hazley (LSU) 7-5, 3-1, ret.
4. Peter Richman (LSU) def. Jimmy Khougassian (ARK) 6-3, 4-1
5. Danny Bryan (LSU) def. Michael Jung (ARK) 6-4, 6-2
6. Colt Gaston (LSU) def. Imraan Ismail (ARK) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles competition:
1. #7 Ken Skupski/Mark Growcott (LSU) def. Rohan Gajjar/Adrians Zguns (ARK) 8-4
2. #39 Danny Bryan/Colt Gaston (LSU) def. Matt Roberts/Imraan Ismail (ARK) 9-7
3. Jason Hazley/Peter Richman (LSU) def. Andrej Nicoara/Michael Jung (ARK) 8-2
Match Notes:
Arkansas 5-15, 2-9 SEC; National ranking #75
LSU 18-7, 5-6 SEC; National ranking #15
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (6,4,2,1,5,3)
Clinchers: Doubles (2), Singles (5)